Garment hanger



March 1, 1966 M. M. EVANS 3,237,820

GARMENT HANGER Filed Feb. 7, 1964 I N VENTOR. META M.EvANs BY /Qwbzqa/ ATTORNEYS United States atent 3,237,820 GARMENT HANGER Meta M. Evans, 18860 Harliegh Drive, Saratoga, Calif. Filed Feb. 7, 1964, Ser. No. 343,285 7 Claims. (El. 223-92) This invention relates generally to garment hangers and more particularly to an improved hanger particularly suited for womens apparel such as low-cut dresses, gowns, slips, twoor three-piece ensembles, and the like.

This application is a continuation-impart of my copending patent application Serial No. 794,987, filed February 24, 1959, and entitled Garment Hanger Attachment, now abandoned.

Most conventional hangers include sloping shoulder portions of smooth Wire, plastic, or Wood. As a consequence, low-cut garments such as womens dresses or slips have a tendency to slide off the sloping shoulder portions. It has already been proposed to provide hook formations or slots in the sloping shoulder portions within which straps or portions of the garments may be received to hold the garment on the hanger. However, such hooklike attachments require that the garment be folded or creased baci; on itself in an unnatural manner to be received within the hook portion thereby wrinkling the garment. Further, there is a possibility of tearing the garment in attempting to remove the same from the hanger.

Other proposals to overcome the problem of clothes falling from hangers contemplate the provision of springbiased clips for retaining portions of a garment so that the entire garment will hang properly from the hanger. Again, however, there is encountered the problem of possible snagging or tearing of the garment. Furthermore, such devices as employ spring-biased clamps or clips are difficult to manipulate when attempting to hang a garment. Thus, one hand must be used to both hold the hanger and operate the clip means in order that the other hand be free to insert a portion of the garment in the clip means. The hanger must then be transferred to the other hand and the other clip operated to receive the other portion of the garment. Removal of the garment from the hanger entails the same awkard and time consuming steps.

With the above in mind, it is accordingly a primary object f this invention to provide an improved garment hanger in which the foregoing problems are overcome.

More particularly, it is an object to provide a garment hanger particularly adapted for supporting low-cut dresses and similar feminine garments which would tend to slide from the sloping shoulder portions of conventional type hanger.

Another object is to provide a novel attachment device for use with a conventional wire, plastic, or wooden type hanger for supporting garments.

Another object is to provide a novel integrally constructed hanger incorporating friction means for holding garments thereon which means may be a permanent part of the hanger or detachably secured thereto for easy replacement.

Another important object is to provide a multiple purpose hanger capable of supporting two, three, or even four-piece ensembles on a single hanger structure.

Still another object is to provide a garment hanger which meets all the foregoing objects without the use of clips, biased clamps, moving parts, or the like to the end that the garments will not be wrinkled, snagged or inadvertently torn nor will they be folded or creased or held in unnatural positions when suspended from the hanger.

A particularly important object is to provide a garment ice hanger capable of holding certain styles of feminine garments incorporating rolled collars or fancy lace or scarf type collars without indenting, wrinkling, or interfering with the collar.

Still another object is to provide a garment hanger to which a garment such as a dress or other apparel may Very easily be attached or separated while holding the hanger with one hand.

Briefly, these and many other objects and advantages of this invention are attained by providing a garment hanger having sloping shoulder means extending generally outwardly and downwardly in opposite directions. In one form of the invention as fully set forth in my above-referred to co-pending patent application, there is provided an attachment for securement to the shoulder portions of the hanger, this attachment incorporating brush means for receiving portions of a garment. In the preferred type of the attachment, the structure is such as to be readily adaptable to conventional wire type hangers so that various advantages of the garment hanger can be realized with relatively little additional expense.

In another form of the invention, the hanger itself is integrally formed such that the opposite extending shoulder means define elongated U-shaped garment receiving areas or slots, the open ends of the U-shapes being defined at the far ends of the sloping shoulder means and the closed ends of the U-shapes being adjacent to the center portion of the hanger. Brush means are provided in the form of resilient bristles extending across the open ends of the U-shaped receiving areas. By this arrangement, it is a simple matter to urge portions of a garment between the open ends of the U-shaped areas of the shoulder means so that the same are resiliently held by the brushes on the hanger. By limiting the brushes to the open end portions of the shoulder means, a relatively elongated U-shaped area free of the brushes, is provided to accommodate rolled collars, lace, and equivalent garment portions.

The brushes may constitute a permanent portion of the hanger member, the bristles merely being cemented or otherwise held in place. Alternatively, means may be provided for enabling the brushes themselves to be replaced.

A better understanding of the invention will be had by now referring to preferred embodiments thereof as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevational view illustrating an attachment for a conventional type Wire hanger in accordance with my invention;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged perspective view of one of the attachments employed on the hanger of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a front elevational view of another embodiment of my invention;

FIGURE 4 is a fragmentary exploded view of a detachable brush means usable with the structure of FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 5 illustrates a modified version of the hanger;

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary exploded View of a detachable brush means usable with the structure of FIGURE 5; and,

FIGURE 7 is a fragmentary view of a modification of the hanger of FIGURE 5.

Referring first to FIGURE 1, there is shown a conventional Wire hanger 10 including sloping shoulder means 11 and 12 extending generally downwardly and outwardly in opposite directions. As shown, the far ends of the shoulder means 11 and 12 turn respectively to dene angular ends 13 and 14, these ends being connected by an integral cross-bar 15. According to the first form of the invention, attachments 1 6 and 17 are respectively secured to the shoulder means 11 and 12.

Each of these attachments is identical and therefore a detailed description of one will suffice for both.

With reference to both FIGURES 1 and 2, the attachment 16 includes a first loop portion 18 formed from an integral wire having a connecting portion 19 extending into a second or open loop 20. This open loop 20 extends into a return resilient elongated wire portion 21. The connecting portion and resilient portion 19 and 21 are respectively provided with brushes 22 and 23 which may be retained by twisting the integral wire back on itself as illustrated. The extent of the brushes 22 and 23 along the connecting portion 19 and resilient portion 21 is indicated by the dimension a. The remaining portions of the wire up to the open loop 20 have a dimension b. Preferably the dimension b is greater than the dimension a so that garment portions urged between the brushes 22 and 23 may pass into the area free of the brushes so that they will not be subject to continuous frictional engagement by the brushes.

With the attachment structure as described in FIG- URE 2, the same may readily be attached to the conventional type wire hanger of FIGURE 1 in the following manner. First, the resilient wire portion 21 is biased upwardly to separate the brush 23 from the brush 22 and ena-ble insertion of the sloping shoulder portion 11 into the open loop 20. The first elongated loop portion 18 may then be slid over the angulated end 13 of the hanger and urged to the right as viewed in FIGURE 1 until the diverging cross-bar portion 15 and sloping shoulder 11 frictionally engage the opposite ends of the elongated loop 18. This friction is sufiicient to retain the attachment in place.

The attachment 17 is similarly secured to the other sloping shoulder 12.

With the attachments so secured, it will be evident that the shoulder portions of -a garment or opposite waist portions of a skirt or half slip may readily be urged between the respective brushes of the attachments so that the garment will be frictionally retained on the hanger without any serious deformation thereof.

FIGURE 3 illustrates another form of the invenion in which an integral hanger member is formed by a single wire shaped to define elongated lU-shaped receiving areas. Thus, as shown in FIGURE 3, there is provided a hanger 24 formed from a single wire defining a first sloping shoulder 25. The wire 25 is folded back on itself as at 26 to extend into a closed U-shaped end 27 adjacent to the center of the hanger structure. The wire then continues to form the other side of the U as at 28 and then is again folded back on itself as at 29 to form a cross portion 30. This cross plortion 30 is folded at 31 to form another shoulder means including another U-shaped receiving area formed by wire portion 32 and U-shaped closed portion 33. A final fold at 34 is provided and then the top portion of the oppositely extending sloping shoulder formed as at 35.

The folded or twisted open end portions 26, 29, 31 and 34 of the U-shaped areas may respectively serve to support brush bristles 37, 38, 39 and 40. These -bristles extend along the open ends of the U-shaped areas for a distance a which is less than the remaining portion b of the U-shaped areas free of the brushes.

The structure of FIGURE 3 has the advantage that the hanger may be very inexpensively manufactured from a single integral wire and permanent brush bristles.

There may be instances, however, in which it is desired to provide an integral wire hanger structure in which the brushes may be replaced by brushes of different quality or by new brushes should the bristles become worn or lose their resiliency. Towards this end, the brushes may be detachably secured to the open ends of the U-shaped receiving areas such as indicated in FIGURE 4.

In the modification of FIGURE 4, there is shown a first sloping shoulder 25 which could correspond to the sloping shoulder 25. However, rather than a tight fold or twisted portion as at 26 in FIGURE 3, the wire 25 is formed into a relatively enlarged rectangular shaped loop 26' before returning to dene the closed U-shaped end as at 27. Cooperating with the rectangular opening 26' is a rectangular support 41 for bristles 42. The support 41 may be provided with an annular groove 43 dimensioned to receive the inner surfaces of the wire loop 26. Thus, in operation, the support 41 would be forced into the frame loop 26 and the sides of this frame would be biased apart slightly and then snap into the grooves 43 to securely hold the brush in place.

It will be understood that the other folded portions of the single integral wire frame shown in FIGURE 3 could similarly be shaped to define loops corresponding to the loop 26 for supporting similar brush supports.

FIGURE 5 shows another form of the invention in which the hanger is formed from plastic or wood or equivalent material. As shown, the hanger member is designated 44 and includes shoulder means at 45 and 46 extending generally downwardly and outwardly in opposite directions. Elongated U-shaped garment receiving areas are defined by slots 47 and 48 cut into the opposite extending shoulder means. The outer open ends of the elongated U-shapes are provided With brush means 49, 50, 51 and 52 respectively. These brush means includes resilient bristles extending across the ends of the elongated U-shapes into engagement with each other as shown.

The bristles may be permanently cemented to the open ends of the U-shapes. Alternatively, they may be mounted on suitable -support means which may be detachably held to the outer ends of the shoulder means.

FIGURE 6 illustrates one such type of detachable holding means wherein the shoulder means corresponding to the shoulder 45 is indicated at 45 and is provided with an undercut cavity 53. This undercut cavity is arranged to receive a resilient support 54 having beveled edges which will fit within the undercut edges when the support is biased into a bow or curved shape and then released to snap into the cavity. The support 54 may be comprised of plastic material and serve to support elongated bristles 55 which extend normally therefrom. When the bristles become Worn, it is a simple matter to pull the support 54 from the cavity 53 and Isnap in a new support and bristles.

FIGURE 7 illustrates a hanger shoulder means 56 in which only a single brush 57 Iis used rather than opposed brushes. The bristles, however, extend completely across the `open ends of the U-shaped receiving area as shown. If desired, the brush 57 could be on the lower portion of the shoulder means and extend upwardly.

The operation of the hangers described in FIGURES 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 is similar to that described in FIGURES 1 and 2. In every case, the user may hold the hanger with one hand and simply urge a portion of the garment into the U-shaped areas past the brushes with the other hand. There is no need to perform dual functions with one hand such as holding the hanger and simultaneously opening a clip or clamp. Removal `of the garment is easily accomplished by simply pulling the garment out from the U-shaped areas past the brushes. The brush bristles themselves are resilient and will not tear, snag, or unduly distort the garment.

The foregoing coupled with the further feature of providing relatively elongated U-shaped receiving areas free of brush bristles to accommodate rolled collars and the like results in a greatly improved garment hanger.

While only certain forms of the invention have been shown and described in detail, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various modifications can be effected without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention. Thus, the essential principle of providing brush structures at each of the far ends of the shoulder portions of a hanger for holding garment portions is not to be thought of as limited to the specic illustrations set forth.

What is claimed is:

1. A. garment engaging and gripping device for attachment to a garment hanger having downwardly diverging shoulder members and a cross-bar forming angular ends at the points of junction of the cross-bar with the lower ends of the shoulder members, said device comprising: a support member having a downwardly directed closed loop at one end adapted to frictionally receive an angular end of the garment hanger, an intermediate portion of said suport member extending from said closed loop at the angle of said shoulder members with respect to the cross-bar and forming an open loop adapted to frictionally grip a shoulder member of the garment hanger disposed at the opposite end of said intermediate portion from said closed loop; a rst brush disposed on said intermediate portion; an elongated resilient member extending from said open loop which is biased toward and overlies said intermediate portion, and a second brush disposed on said resilient member in confronting relationship to said rst brush whereby the device may be frictionally attached to a garment hanger by insertion of the closed loop over one of said angular ends and said open loop disposed on one of said shoulder members and whereby said second brush may be raised to receive a shoulder portion of a garment to be supported on said hanger.

2. A garment hanger comprising: a pair of downwardly diverging -shoulder members and a cross-bar connecting the lower ends of said shoulder members to form angular ends at the points of connection; a garment shoulder-engaging and gripping device disposed on each of said shoulder members, each device comprising a pair of opposed brushes mounted in spring-biased relationship toward each other and having spaced loops on the device, one loop having a sliding connection with one of said angular ends and the other loop having sliding connection with one of said shoulder members to wedge the device on the hanger, an elongated resilient member extending from said other loop in overlying relationship to at least a portion of said device connecting said loops, one of said brushes being mounted on said portion of said device connecting said spaced loops and the other of said brushes being mounted on said elongated resilient member.

3. A garment shoulder engaging and gripping device adapted for attachment to a garment hanger having downwardly flaring shoulders and having a cross-bar, said device having spaced loops, a portion connecting the loops, and an elongated resilient member overlying said connecting portion and connected to one of said loops, said device comprising a pair of opposed brushes,

one of said brushes being mounted on said connecting portion and the other of said brushes being mounted on said resilient member in spring-biased relationship to said one brush, said one yof said loop-s being arranged to have a sliding connection with a downwardly Haring shoulder of the hanger and the other loop being arranged to have a sliding connection with both the latter shoulder of the hanger and said cross-bar which would wedge the device on the hanger.

4. A garment hanger comprising: an integral hanger member having oppositely extending shoulder means each defining an elongated integral Ushaped garment receiving area, the outer portion of said shoulder means defining the open ends of said U-shaped area and the inner closed portion of said U-shaped area terminating adjacent to the center of said hanger member; and brush means positioned at the yopen ends of said U-shaped area, said brush means comprising resilient bristle elements extending across said open ends whereby portions of a garment to be supported by said hanger may be urged into said U-shaped areas and thereby supported .on said shoulder means.

5. A garment hanger according to claim 4, in which the resilient bristles defining said brush means extend across said open ends from opposite portions .of said ends so as to define opposed brushes between which garment portions may be received.

6. A garment hanger according to claim 4, in which the extent of said brush means along the open end portions of said U-shaped receiving areas -is less than the length of said U-shaped area free of said brush means whereby garments having rolled collars and equivalent structures may be supported on said hanger by said brush means with said collars positioned in the portion of said U-shaped area free of said brush means.

7. A garment hanger according to claim 4, in which said brush means each includes a removable support from which said resilient bristles extend, said open end portions including means for detachably holding such support whereby said brush means may be separated from said open ends and replaced by other brush means.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,716,985 6/1929 Spear 223-93 1,768,005 6/ 1930 Schwartzman 24-262 X /1,793,322 2/ 1931 Kanowitz 223-92 1,794,416 3/ 1931 Murray 223-92 FOREIGN PATENTS 29,932 12/ 1910 Great Britain.

JORDAN FRANKLIN, Primary Examiner. 

1. A GARMENT ENGAGING AND GRIPPING DEVICE FOR ATTACHMENT TO A GARMENT HANGER HAVING DOWNWARDLY DIVERGING SHOULDER MEMBERS AND A CROSS-BAR FORMING ANGULAR ENDS AT THE POINTS OF JUNCTION OF THE CROSS-BAR WITH THE LOWER ENDS OF THE SHOULDER MEMBERS, SAID DEVICE COMPRISING: A SUPPORT MEMBER HAVING A DOWNWARDLY DIRECTED CLOSED LOOP AT ONE END ADAPTED TO FRICTIONALLY RECEIVE AN ANGULAR END OF THE GARMENT HANGER, AN INTERMEDIATE PORTION OF SAID SUPPORT MEMBER EXTENDING FROM SAID CLOSED LOOP AT THE ANGLE OF SAID SHOULDER MEMBERS WITH RESPECT TO THE CROSS-BAR AND FORMING AN OPEN LOOP ADAPTED TO FRICTIONALLY GRIP A SHOULDER MEMBER OF THE GARMENT HANGER DISPOSED AT THE OPPOSITE END OF SAID INTERMEDIATE PORTION FROM SAID CLOSED LOOP; A FIRST BRUSH DISPOSED ON SAID INTERMEDIATE PORTION; AN ELONGATED RESILIENT MEMBER EXTENDING FROM SAID OPEN LOOP WHICH IS BIASED TOWARD AND OVERLIES SAID INTERMEDIATE PORTION, AND A SECOND BRUSH DISPOSED ON SAID RESILIENT MEMBER IN CONFRONTING RELATIONSHIP TO SAID FIRST BRUSH WHEREBY THE DEVICE MAY BE FRICTIONALLY ATTACHED TO A GARMENT HANGER BY INSERTION OF THE CLOSED LOOP OVER ONE OF SAID ANGULAR ENDS AND SAID OPEN LOOP DISPOSED ON ONE OF SAID SHOULDER MEMBERS AND WHEREBY SAID SECOND BRUSH MAY BE RAISED TO RECEIVE A SHOULDER PORTION OF A GARMENT TO BE SUPPORTED ON SAID HANGER. 